


Normal Birth

by agoodwoman



Series: What Should Have Been [1]
Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-21
Updated: 2016-05-21
Packaged: 2018-06-09 17:56:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6917371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agoodwoman/pseuds/agoodwoman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Mulder and Scully had the baby in a hospital.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Normal Birth

Her contractions began as they do, with a sharp kick and a long cramp in her lower abdomen. The muscles under her belly were contracting and tightening while there was a surge inside of her that felt like everything moving downward.

“Oh Jesus!” Scully cried.

“What?” Mulder asked as he approached in the kitchen.

“That was a strong one,” she asked as she rubbed the heel of her hand on her rounded belly. 

She felt so enormous these days but all Mulder would tell her is how beautiful she looked. He told her she actually glowed and while she rolled her eyes at the compliment she appreciated him telling her while she felt her least attractive. From the moment she found out she was pregnant until month 8, she felt great about her body. The first trimester she barely showed but she felt such pride about the fact that she was making another human being. As her belly grew she felt good with the weight as it gained and her stomach started to show a sign of the life inside of her. But with the disappearance of her toes, the swelling of her ankles and not being able to sleep longer than two hours without getting up to pee or the baby pushing on something inside, she felt ready for this to happen.

More than ready. She was angry it hadn’t happened. This baby was eight days overdue and she was about to sign an eviction notice.

“I don’t want to say the B-word but-”

“Ah!” Scully hunched over in pain. Her hand grabbed at the table next to her and she tried to breathe slowly through her teeth. She was aware of what was coming, the risks, the pain and how her body would work on adrenaline to help her get through all of that was about to happen. 

Mulder rushed to her side and crouched next to her. “Another one?”

“I don’t think this is Braxton Hicks,” she managed and her eyes closed.

Mulder looked at is watch. “It’s 7:45 p.m. If we leave for the hospital right now we can make it there in thirteen minutes.”

“These are just the start of contractions,” Scully said a she breathed slowly and evenly. “When my water breaks, then we have a shorter window to get to the hospital. We can't panic. It's early and if we go in too early in the labour they might send us home. I just need to walk around.”

When she stood up her calm lasted only a moment. She grabbed at the table again and looked down at her feet as clear fluid burst from between her legs, soaking her leggings and feet.

“If I had a dollar for every time you spoke too soon I’d be a rich man,” Mulder said in amusement before he realized what that meant. “Oh shit, that was your water!”

“Can you grab the dress I was wearing yesterday?” Scully asked calmly as she looked at the puddle at her feet.

She removed her tank top and waited for Mulder to return to help her out of her leggings.

This was really happening now and there was no delaying it any further. She was both relieved and terrified at the prospect of what came next. Yes, a baby but first childbirth. She watched the videos, she read the books and she was, in fact, a medical doctor. She hadn't pushed any out but she was present during a few vaginal births while in medical school. 

He returned with the blue maternity sundress and placed it in her hands so he could clean the floors. He carefully mopped up the fluid on the kitchen floor with paper towel and gave it a spray down with Lysol. His face was one more of confusion than disgust as he tossed the paper towel in the kitchen garbage. He pulled her damp leggings down her legs and she could see him holding back a remark to which she commented on and he thanked her for noticing. Then he used a soapy dish cloth to clean her legs off and helped her change into dry clothes.

“What?” she asked finally.

“I thought your water would be more slimy,” he mused as he pulled the dress over her head.

“It’s water Mulder, not alien goo,” she admonished but smiled anyway.

Their child would never know normal dinner conversation.

Mulder shut the oven off and found Scully’s flip flop sandals to slip onto her feet.

Scully sighed. “Okay.”

He came to her side to help her walk toward the door and as Mulder reached for the handle she stopped him.

“It’s going to be okay,” he reassured her.

She pursed her lips and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Mulder, you’re not wearing any pants,” she said patiently and Mulder looked down at his bare legs. He had boxer shorts on and a T-shirt but the man appreciated being pants-less around the house. She didn’t mind but the hospital staff might. “I’ll wait.”

Scully held the door handle while Mulder disappeared into the bedroom to find his jeans. He came out with his backpack of overnight clothes and a sheepish smile. “Okay I think I’m presentable.”

“Okay,” she agreed. He kissed her softly and he opened the door to get to the hospital.

They were admitted quickly and shown to a room upstairs where happy nurses in pink scrubs gave them pep talks about the miracle of childbirth. They made Mulder wear a name tag that said Dad and called Scully by her given name. After twenty minutes Scully asked if they could leave.

They walked the hallways of the maternity ward for two hours until Scully’s doctor, Erin Gerber, insisted she get ready to push. Her contractions were close, she was almost fully dilated and Erin reminded her that things could progress quickly.

Scully tugged on the collar of her hospital gown after she was situated in her bed with fetal monitors wrapped around her abdomen, an IV in her arm and the most unattractive socks on her feet. Mulder watched her nervously as the monitor beeped and warned them of an upcoming contraction.

Ever the good student, Mulder recalled the breathing techniques, he rubbed her back and brought her ice chips when they ended.

Scully shook some into her mouth and laid down do crunch on them as she watched the busy hallway. “Two other babies have been born since we’ve been here.”

“He’s coming,” Mulder tried to encourage but she shot him a look. Sweat stuck her hair to her head and she had an old blue headband holding it back from her face. She told Mulder to fuck off at least twice when he told her something positive and then apologized for it later.

“Okay, you know what?” Scully started.

He placed two fingers over her lips to silence her before she could start. “Before you tell me to do something anatomically impossible, I would like to tell you that you’re a beautiful woman, smart, educated and the most capable FBI agent I know. I know you could dissect me alive and bury my body where no one would find it. We’re all afraid of you and I love you.”

Her scowl lingered but she said nothing.

Doctor Gerber breezed in with three nurses behind her with happy smiles. “Okay Dana, let’s take a look!”

Scully breathed out and put her feet into the stir-ups for Dr. Gerber to examine her. Mulder stayed by Scully’s side and took her hand as a gloved hand reached inside to feel the dilation.

“You’re fully dilated, we can start!”

“We?” Scully mumbled.

Apparently pain didn’t make the best come out in her.

The next contraction approached and Scully took Mulder’s hand to bear down for her first push. It took forty five minutes, a few sharp glances to Mulder as he counted upon the nurses instructions but she did it. A healthy, blue eyed and strawberry blonde head pushed out, followed by the shoulders, torso and legs. He had long limbs, a bright angry face and he was covered in what looked like a mixture of cream cheese and jam.

Dr. Gerber held him up to Scully. “He’s beautiful, Dana!”

Mulder kissed her sweaty forehead and she looked up at him with a welling in her eyes.

“Are you crying?” she asked.

“Of course I’m crying!” Mulder said as he wiped away a tear.

“Dad do you want to cut the cord?” Dr. Gerber asked.

Mulder looked up and walked toward the end of the bed to do the ceremonial snipping. “I’m really a man now.”

“It’s all BBQ’s and socks in sandals from here on out,” Scully retorted.

The nurse pulled Scully’s gown open at the shoulders and placed their son on his stomach with a towel around his abdomen on her chest.

“Now for the placenta,” Dr. Gerber announced.

Mulder straightened up and tried not to make a face. Scully didn’t care. He was here. Their little baby boy.

“He’s so small,” Scully noted as he pushed his head onto his hand. He began to suckle immediately on his fist.

“We’ll get him weighed and examined in a second then you can start feeding,” the nurse instructed.

The placenta was next to be examined and they all remarked how healthy it looked. Mulder wondered what an unhealthy versus healthy one looked like as they poked at the organ Scully grew with her body to make this child.

One of the more vocal nurses in the room, Karen, handed the loosely swaddled infant to Scully, then took Scully’s breast and pushed it into the baby’s mouth.

“Your uterus will shrink faster if you nurse right away,” Karen said happily.

Scully looked up at Mulder as though his biological father had just walked in to announce his well wishes and then down to where Karen was inspecting their baby’s latch.

“He’s got a good latch there,” Karen noted.

There was a sharp pain that came from inside of Scully’s nipple but she could feel the milk coming out and loved the sound of their baby swallowing. An emotional wave hit her of how wonderful and special this moment was.

“This is surreal,” Mulder noted.

“Oh Dad,” Karen laughed. “This is the most natural thing.”

“Not that,” Mulder said. “Just… this happening. I keep expecting to wake up from a dream.”

Scully reached over and pinched Mulder’s side. He yelped. Their son didn’t bat an eye and continued to suckle hungrily.

“Nope, not dreaming,” Mulder said as he rubbed his side. “Dammit, woman.”

“What’s his name?” Dr. Gerber asked as she pulled her gloves off.

“William,” Scully said and laughed. “After every man we know.”

Mulder laughed too. “Yeah there’s a lot of those going around in our families.”

“Maybe he’ll go by Liam,” Dr. Gerber mused. She patted Scully on the knee. “You did great Dana.”


End file.
